News Archive

The Royal visit to Perth last week for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was an opportunity to reflect on the involvement of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh in the history of our University.

The Queen's first visit to the University was in 1954. The visit came towards the end of a two-month tour of the nation: the first time a reigning monarch of Australia had set foot on Australian soil. In that year the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh attended a ball at UWA.

She visited again in 1963 when, with then Chancellor Sir Alex Reid, she greeted Colombo Plan students during the Golden Jubilee celebrations. In 2000, she opened the Collaborative Training and Education Centre - one of the world's most sophisticated medical skills laboratories - next to the School of Anatomy and Human Biology.

For this year's visit to Perth, the royal couple were joined by other dignitaries attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

It is pleasing to consider the development of the University from 1954 to 2011.

During the 1950s and 60s the University achieved unprecedented growth thanks to a booming economy and a spike in demand for university education. By 1956 UWA had 2,000 students - a good number considering there were only 184 in 1913. By 1962 there were 3,800.

In 1956 the Faculty of Medicine was created thanks to a public appeal launched by the State's Rotary Clubs. The foundation of the Medical School, supported by a post-war community who wanted locally trained doctors, won admiration around the world.

With the entry of several other tertiary institutions into Perth during the 1960s and 70s, UWA was no longer expected to be the sole deliverer of higher education in the State and we were able to be more specific in our goals and priorities.

By 2000 we were proud to have a School of Indigenous Studies and the campaign to build a new Business School was about to start. We concentrated on developing our dual strengths of research and research training and added many research institutes which continue to meet the changing needs of the community.

By the new millennium our University was a member of Australia's Group of Eight research-intensive universities and by 2011 we had become a member of other groups including the Worldwide Universities Network comprising 16 research-intensive universities spanning five continents. We are also part of the seven-member Matariki Network which aims to deliver a high quality university experience for students.

When the Queen first came to UWA 57 years ago, few on campus would have imagined that by 2011 we would be working towards being counted among the world's top 50 universities by 2050.

Today we are a university that is a leader on the world stage, particularly in the fields of medicine and life sciences such as agriculture. We are working with other leading universities to address the issues that impact humankind and we are part of a community that is no longer local, but global.

We have a lot to be proud of - but we also have a lot more work to do.

Vice-Chancellor Alan Robson

• UWA News 31 October 2011